Chapter 173: Chapter 173 - The Haven(Part 2)

"Allow me to introduce the Elders, our leaders, to you all. Representing the Light Elves, Oberr. Representing the Dark Elves, Arofri. Representating the Dwarves, Ulfar. Representing the Fairies, Tania. Representing the Lizardmen, Conda. Representing the Kanines, Alsa. Representing the Felinians, Sinia. Representing the Werewolves, Howll. Representing the Oryctolagus, Angora. And finally, representing the Centaurs, Friese," Iefyr introduced each of the leaders.

"So, these are the humans who are seeking shelter in order to hide from other humans?" Responded Oberr, the Light Elf representative.

"I see no reason to help them. Considering that humans are trying to hunt our races into extinction, they definitely wouldn’t do the same for us," Frowned Conda, the Lizardmen representative, narrowing his eyes at us, as a forked tongue flicked out of his mouth like a snake.

"Yes, the best course of action is probably to turn them away," Nodded Tania, the Fairy representative, in agreement.

"No, I say we eliminate them instead, just to be safe. We can trust Rosary, but who’s to say that these others won’t expose our hideout to other humans?" Chimed in the Dark Elf representative, Arofri, a wary look on his face.

Uh-oh, I was afraid that the conversation would end up here.

"If you’re all against letting us stay here, that’s fine, we’ll leave without a fuss. But if you’re gonna try to kill us instead, then we will fight back and defend ourselves. That’s an outcome we should all want to avoid, for obvious reasons," I remarked objectively.

"We can’t simply trust you, we don’t know what kind of people any of you are, with the exception of Rosary, of course. We’re of the unanimous decision to not lend you any of our help, but letting you go is too great a risk for us to take," Responded the Centaur, Friese, tapping one of her hooves against the floor.

"Now, I get it. The reason you called us all down here was so that it’d be harder for us to leave, giving yourselves a better opportunity of killing all of us? Am I wrong?" I surmised with a wary smile, as I surveyed our surroundings.

There’s Demi-Humans all around us, and all of them are armed.

"Not bad, you’re pretty smart," Smirked Sinia, the Felinian representative...aw, man, she isn’t speaking like how anime cat girls do, too bad.

"Please, wait! I...I’m sorry, this is all my fault. I shouldn’t have brought them here, but please understand, I’d have never done so if I thought that any of them would be hostile towards you! And I stand by that, these people aren’t like the humans who marginalize Demi-Humans and treat you as inferior beings! All I’m asking is for you to give them a chance to prove that!" Rosary implored them desperately.

"If I may speak, I believe that she might be right. These three humans have been traveling with a Monster, treating her as an equal. If we kill them simply because they’re human, doesn’t that make up no better than the humans who’ve tormented us for so long?" Chimed in Iefyr.

"I suppose that’s worth taking into account, if nothing else. But still, there’s nothing to gain for us from doing this. Unless you humans have something you can offer us?" The Werewolf representative, Howll, prompted us.

Crap, I’ve got nothing. The others are keeping quiet, they’re probably afraid of saying something that might offend the Demi-Humans. Alright, let’s think about this. Can I do something with my Skills to help? No, nothing particularly valuable. What about with my Spells? Oh, I know...

"From what I’ve seen, your houses are all built using wood or earth, right? I can offer a large supply of metal, which’ll help make sturdier structures," I suggested in response. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

I’m hoping that people who are proficient with metal Spells are rare here, just like with humans.

"Well, I suppose that would be helpful. Creating metal with Magic is far too difficult, and we’ve all but mined all the ores we could find down here. But how would you go about bringing a large supply of metal here without being noticed?" Frowned Ulfar, the Dwarf representative.

"Oh, uh, actually...I was offering to create metal using Magic. At the risk of bragging, I’m quite good at it," I replied with a sheepish grin.

"For any race that’s capable of using Elemental Earth, metal Spells are the most difficult to master, without exception. Show us that your claim isn’t false," Stated Tania suspiciously.

"Sure, that’s fine," I nodded, before raising my hands and starting to create metal in various forms, "Here’s an arrow. Here’s a spear. Here’s a big ol’ block. Here’s a shield. Here’s a sword. Here’s a dildo. Here’s a-..."

"Incredible...such advanced Spellcasting from a human should be unthinkable," She cut me off with a frown, before flying over to inspect my creations, along with Ulfar.

"This is...quite impressive. These are all of fairly high quality, I didn’t think it was possible to create metal of this quality with Magic. But what is this, the last item you created?" He mused curiously, staring at the dildo I’d made in fascination.

"Did you really have to make that?" Argent muttered to me in exasperation.

Yeah, why not, maybe they don’t have sex toys here.

"It’s something that can used to pleasure yourself sexually. Well, mostly for women, but guys can use it too," I explained bluntly.

"Oh, I see! It’s vaguely shaped like a penis, so it must be used by inserting it into-...," Izzy began as she realized what it was far.

"Yup, that’s right! You got it!" Argent quickly cut her off and nodded, patting her head to distract her.

"Um, I don’t know if you really need this, but we can also offer healing," Spoke up Prysm.

"We have plenty of healers, so that’s unnecessary," Replied Tania with a shake of her head.

"We could help you guys train by sparring with you or something," Suggested Argent in response.

"Oh, that sounds good to me!" Nodded Izzy as her eyes lit up.

"That’ll depend on how strong each of you are. Are you all really strong enough to genuinely challenge us?" Pointed out Howll with a raised eyebrow.

"I think you’ll find that each of us are pretty damn powerful in our own rights. That said, this one here’s on a completely different level, I’m confident in saying that you’ve probably not got anyone who can hold a candle to her," I grinned, as I slapped Izzy on her upper back, startling her slightly.

"Hey, don’t be so pessimistic! There might be at least a few people here who can challenge me!" She protested indignantly.

"Very well, then...let’s confirm it after we’re done with this, shall we? Now, then, tell us, is there anything else you humans have to offer?" Inquired Howll curiously.

"Well, I can create a wide variety of poisons...well, technically it’s the same poison, but I can adjust the level of potency and how lethal it is. Also, I can create these spider threads...they’re super sticky, but also pretty strong," I offered, as I let some threads form out from my fingertips...that’s all I’ve got to offer, I can’t think of anything else that they’d be interested in.

"Uh...are you really a human?" Alsa, the Kanine representative, asked me in bemusement.

"Mhm, sure am. So, what’s it gonna be? Kick us out, take us in, or try to kill us?" I inquired in response.

"Hey! At least try to be nicer," Frowned Rosary as she nudged me.

"Hm...go outside and give us a moment to discuss the matter. We’ll call you back in once we’ve made our decision. Before you go, leave samples of that thread as well as the poison you mentioned," Remarked Oberr, after glancing at the others.

"Yeah, sure. Uh, you got any containers or anything for the poison?" I replied, before being handed a wooden cup.

I opened my mouth and placed the cup under one of my canines, secreting poison out of it. I’ll go for the strongest poison I can create. Once that was done, the five of us headed out the building, Iefyr coming along with us.

"I’ll be back once the leaders have made their decision, it shouldn’t be too long," He informed us, before heading back in.

"Sorry, everyone, maybe I shouldn’t have brought you here, after all," Sighed Rosary apologetically.

"Nah, it’s cool, plus it seems like there’s a chance that this could acrually work out," I shrugged in response.

"Yeah...let’s hope so. Even if it’s just for a short while, we could really use some time to think ahead and plan how to approach the situation up there. We can’t exactly stay down here forever," Remarked Argent with a frown.

"It’s too bad they’re so wary of us, but I guess it’s only natural, huh?" Mused Prysm somberly.

We then glanced towards the entrance as Iefyr came back out, his footsteps echoing through the corridor.

"The leaders have made their decision. They’ve agreed to let you stay here for a month, no longer than that. In exchange, they expect a steady supply of metal, sticky thread and poison. Additionally, the four of you will also help train our younger residents...however, before that, the leaders wish to see what each of you are capable of. If all four of you manage to put up an adequate challenge against them, you’ll be allowed to stay."

Alright, so we just gotta defeat them in sparring matches and we’re set? Fine by me, I’m pretty curious to see how strong they are in comparison to humans, anyway...

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